I don’t think Alzheimer’s is a mental “exercise” thing. I have known several sharp elderly people that were very active mentally, then declined rapidly with Alzheimer’s.
Really? What about designing electronic circuits, building and de-bugging them. Does that help?
I have ridden with people using a GPS. It’s dangerous, distracts them from what’s happening in front of them. Plus, they verbally tell you what to do constantly. I’m ready to t throw thing out the window after a mile or so.
Its more important to have the body active and moving and doing physical things rather than puzzles. Puzzles and brain teasers don’t stave off alzheimers. Walking and doing things that require coordination and balance have been found to be more important.
If you use real maps while driving, you don’t live long enough for dementia to take hold.
100% I find I have better situational awareness, directional bearing, and an easier time learning about my surroundings if I make a map and drive by the map.
Reading a map may not prevent alzheimers, but it does give the big picture.
Using a map instead of a gps can also keep you out of rivers, off of dirt logging roads, and out of the bad part of towns.
I use google.com/maps and write the directions down on paper and take that with me.
I still have Thomas Guides and use them, but in my airplane, the GPS is far superior than me navigating with my charts
When I’m driving, I find myself yelling at the wife a lot. “TALK TO ME GOOSE!”
Result was a massive spike in dementia and Alzheimers as critical brain-healthy fats were slashed out of the American diet, and sugar and carb use exploded, increasing diabetes rates as well, which makes dementia even worse.
Sorry, but when I’m in a strange place I just do and go where the voices tell me.
Our mothers had amazing memories when it came to driving over/in areas they hadn’t been to in years.
My MIL was suffering from severe memory loss and someone must have dropped a dime on her driving. She had to renew her written driving license and take a driving test.
She aced both of them and when she returned/drove to her hometown. She stopped at the home where she raised her family and had not lived there for a decade. That had happened before, and the nice “new family” ‘drove her to where she lived at that time’.
My Mother never forgot a road where she had driven on or rode in a car with someone else driving. She was a good driver into her late 80’s. A sister sibling has that ability into her early 80’s.
I’m similar re my mother and sis. Curvy red rivers with a lot of iron in them used to mess me up direction wise. No problem for the last 6 decades.
Our adult sons have gps/directional finders built into their brainstems. They remember every road they have ever driven on or rode on. One look at a map is all they need for new roads, rivers, lakes and the ocean shores. Their kids, our Grandkids have the same ability.
I love maps, and I love GPS. I also love the combination. For me, I never put an address into my GPS and just start driving. I ALWAYS review the proposed route to understand what I need to do. If looking at the map, if I think there is a better way, then I force the GPS to an alternate route. When going on a trip, I plan in advance custom routes for the trip, build my routes and then let the GPS run those routes. I have many considerations for routes and the GPS generally just prefers finding the nearest Interstate and using it. That does not work for me. I do not blindly follow it.